Good morning, 'Merica, and Happy Independence Day to you! This is your favorite Mormon Missionary from the Colorado Fort Collins Mission, Elder Z.S.Weber, here with another one of my weekly updates on how the mission life is going. Now, I know a lot of you are hoping for some epic success story from this week, but sadly this week was just another average week for me and Elder Pember. Nothing too rough happened, but nothing very noteworthy happened either, at least when it comes to the work. We had some great moments of bonding, working in our area, as rough as it might be. However, we haven't seen a whole lot of success, or rather, progress during this past week.
That being said, there were several moments throughout this past week that are worth mentioning. Perhaps we didn't have much progress with our work this past week, but that doesn't mean that this past week wasn't one filled with stirring and inspiring moments of spiritual growth and knowledge.
To start off with, let's go back to Tuesday of this past week, and may I apologize for a slightly somber beginning. Last week, we learned that the son of one of the members of the Prairie Ridge Ward has passed away. It was a shock and pain for the whole family. To help alleviate their troubles, in however small or grand a way as possible, Elder Pember and I went over to the Church Building Monday night and Tuesday morning to help out in the preparations for the funeral. On Tuesday morning, we were asked to help in the catering, carrying the food out for the luncheon and making certain that the tables were all cared for. It was a bit confusing work at first, but it went along well, and I think both Elder Pember and I enjoyed it fairly well.
What had been most surprising for me, though, was how many people had decided to show up. The family had told us that they were only expecting about a hundred people to show up, and in fact had only invited around that many people. When we showed up to help that morning, however, the Church parking lot was close to over-flowing. There was even an entire row of parking spots completely filled by a gang of motorcycles, owned by a group of friends the son of the family had hung out with in the past. It was truly moving to see so many people come together in love, comfort, and compassion in the wake of this tragedy. For a moment, it made me think of how my funeral, at some hopefully very distant date, would go, and who would come to remember me.
Our week pressed on to Thursday, where we had another chance to go and teach Kathy, our soon-to-be-recent-convert. At first, we weren't certain what we would share with her and her husband, Ralph. We ended up deciding to read Alma 34 with them, and discuss the importance of the atonement that is mentioned in the chapter. As we discussed, Ralph brought up a point that was very interesting...one that I have never heard before now. A problem that he was having was that it was difficult for him to believe that God and Jesus Christ were perfect beings. It didn't make much sense to him, as he had experienced a lot of life, and seeing how imperfect and rather corrupt humans can be, that he had a very hard time believing a perfect God could or would create such an imperfect world.
Much to our surprise, though, it was Kathy that had a large role in helping explain this truth to Ralph. Using the knowledge that she had gained from our lessons on the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she was able to rather confidently state her belief on the fact that God is perfect. It was really surprising to watch, especially as someone who started teaching her when she had very little understanding of the church and of the Plan of Salvation. It was a really wonderful moment to sit there and see that our efforts had paid off. The spirit truly had been with us when we had taught Kathy, and our lessons with her had not merely entertained or informed her, but helped her to change and convert. It was incredible.
Finally, at the close of our week, we felt a heavy loss. This past Thursday evening, President Kelly Brown, the mission president I have had since I first entered my mission, returned home with honor with his beloved wife beside him. Those of us who had come to love President Brown felt a pang of sadness, which was only comforted by the knowledge that we would meet again someday...especially after he had passed on to us his contact information so we could at least attempt to stay in touch after the mission. In his place came our new mission president, President Shawn McMurray, who came fresh and ready to work in this mission and bring it to a new level of greatness.
We had a chance to meet President McMurray on Saturday. It was interesting, getting to meet the new head of the mission. He's certainly no President Brown. He's less intimidating, not quite as giant a man. Yet he has this peaceful spirit about him that President Brown had also. This spirit has been a confirmation to me that he has been given the priesthood keys to lead this mission, and whatever work he is called on to do that it will be the will of God for us missionaries here. While I will only be with him for a few short weeks (four, to be exact), I look forward to learning whatever I can from him and how he runs the mission. If nothing else, it will make for a very interesting and memorable last month of the mission.
And, well...that was my week. Like I said before, not a lot of great new progress, but a great week nonetheless. Spiritually uplifting, filled with great memories, a great week through and through. So, what Spiritual Moment could I have to share this week?
A while back in my mission, one of my former companions received an email from his parents saying that they were moving into Colorado due to some changes in his father's company. Instantly, this companion of mine began to feel slight animosity towards his parents decision, claiming he didn't want to leave his mission only to come home to Colorado. It wasn't fair was the tune his heart and voice was singing. Now, I knew this companion, and he had only said good of Colorado, while his words regarding his home state were nothing but negative. When I asked him regarding this, he told me that one of the biggest reasons he had left on a mission was to get away from his family. He didn't want to be around them, and so them coming to the state he was coming to love would surely ruin it in his mind.
This was a mindset that I have never experienced before. Those that have read my past emails, and who know me personally, can attest that I love my family. Indeed, though video games are great and the new movies that came out during my mission had me banging my head against the wall in irritation that I couldn't watch them, it was the fact that I had to leave my family behind that was the hardest for my decision to serve a mission. Though we might not always see eye to eye with each other, each member of my family is someone I care deeply for, and I know that I could never live without. They bear me up, and give me more strength and support than I could ever hope to express in words.
I am ever thankful for the blessing of families. Certainly, there are no perfect families on earth. But if we model our lives after our Savior's, and model our family after that divine family from where we came from, we can at least bring ourselves close. We can feel of the love that our Father has for each of us, even when we do wrong. I remember very clearly growing up that I had a fear that if I made a mistake, even a minor one, I would lose the love my parents have for me. Now, nearing the age when I will start a family of my own, and looking back through the ages, I can see how foolish that thought was. Families should love, even when things go wrong and mistakes happen. For so loves our Father, the perfect example of love unfeigned.
This I state in humility, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
-Elder Z.S.Weber
No comments:
Post a Comment